Snakes and Ladders
by nerdy demons
Summary: Set about a year after Take Your Kid To Work Day... Chapter Fifteen...Cameron yells at House angrily and Angie watches a Stephen Dorff movie.
1. Chapter 1

**Title: **Snakes and Ladders

**Chapter:** 1. Make Me Over

**Summary:** Set about a year after Take Your Kid To Work Day, House struggles to propose, Cameron is keeping a secret and Angela is in the middle, ignoring her own problems.

**Disclaimer:** I do not in any way own 'House' or any of its characters.

"What about this one?" Gregory House asked his niece, who would be filling in for the fab five this evening, holding up a shirt next to himself.

"Why is it that color? And more importantly, why do you own a shirt that color?"

"You know, a simple 'no' would suffice. And it seemed like a good idea at the time, I guess." He said taking another glance at the shirt cringing; he tossed it on a pile at the foot of his bed, to the left of where Angela was sitting.

"Here this one…this one is nice, right?"

"Yeah actually, it _is_ good, but I don't think nice is what we're going for here and it looks kind of old." Angie was stumped, the man was usually dressed fine, but now at a time when it actually matted how he looked he was pulling out shirts that belonged to figure skaters stuck in the '80s and bouncers working at a gay bar. He was utterly hopeless.

"Fine then miss shirt expert, exactly what are we going for here?" He said throwing his hands up in the air, exasperated.

"Your proposing marriage, Greg, you need to look serious, sophisticated, _pleasant_." She explained, followed by a long, hard cough. Angie dared to look in the closet herself, eventually finding something she approved of and pulled it out.

"Look! See, nice, right on the money, just what you need!" She exclaimed with pride, showing her uncle a dark navy, pin striped dress shirt.

"Ok, other than your germs being all over it, it's great. Now, about the pants, I was thin-"

"I want absolutely nothing to do with your pants." Angie stated, an edge of horror in her voice, she widened and lowered her eyes.

"Hey, I'm not asking for you to hop in them, I'm asking for your opinion, like you said I need to look pleasant." Angela rolled her eyes and nodded, he was far better off with her opinion, sure Wilson could lend some help with ties, but he was really lacking style himself. His white shirt, white lab coat, and pocket protector outfit was a far cry from sexy. Angela herself was looking rather cute in a long black peasant skirt and a red colored tank top and had her hair in a high ponytail; House had commented upon her arrival that she resembled a dazed hippie. "So those jeans or these jeans?" He questioned pointing to the pairs of pants strewn across the floor.

"No! No Jeans! Dress shirt, Dress Pants! I can't believe your not getting this, are you really _that_ nervous about this?"

"Yes! You don't understand, what if she says no? What if she wants to breakup after? What if she's upset? Maybe she'll think it's too soon, oh god, it's too soon, isn't it?"

Angela just bobbed her head trying to keep up with her uncle's ranting and pacing. She rolled her eyes and moved back to the closet in search of a decent pair of pants, after calming herself after another bad cough.

"Oh bother! If it's this hard to get you properly dressed to propose, imagine the fun we'll have trying to find a good tux for the wedding!"

"Wedding? WEDDING? Haven't you been paying any attention to me? There may not be a wedding, she may say no, she may-"

"Ok I know, I heard what you said, calm down." She said soothingly gesturing for Greg to sit on the edge of the bed, "It's going to be fine, you love her, she loves you. As you may know, this is not brain surgery, you ask her, she gushes, maybe even cries, says yes and you give her the ring. Just like clockwork, and your engaged!"

"Fine, but I'm still nervous. She's scarier than she looks, you know!"

"Scarier than Stacey?" Angie asked sarcastically, hardly able to stop the great grin crossing her face.

"Umm…never mind. Well, neither is actually scary, they're just intimidating sometimes."

Angela burst out laughing; Gregory House was calling another human being intimidating! And two female human beings too, this was too good! She could just see it now; little Greg would cower in the corner shaking at the sight of the giant scary Allison.

"Oh get over it! She'll say 'yes', you'll be happy, she'll be happy; you'll be two married happy nerds. And then many years later, a few kids later, maybe a few restraining orders later you'll dread it and cry yourself to sleep regretting this conversation." Angie said taunting House trying to psych him out, get him to squirm.

"That's a pretty picture you've painted for me, but I'm not like Wilson. I'm a one woman kind of guy, not that I'd ever admit that to anyone, and this is the one, this is the one I want to marry." He said gazing off into space.

"My goodness how very poetic, you should put that on your Christmas card!" Angie gasped, followed by a giggle, while staring into the closet's abyss searching for pants.

"Funny! But I'd quit making jokes if I were you, one day you'll get married too and I'll be sure to be the one spilling beer around and yelling obscenities to your groom's mother."

"You know you'd never do that, it's such a waste of beer." She scolded him, shaking her head lightly. "A-HA!" She screamed in delight, "Black dress pants, perfect pants for you to wear!"

"Oooohhh…pretty pants, pretty shirt, pretty Greg!" He said in mock awe of the clothes lying before him on his bed, receiving a playful slap to his shoulder. Angela began coughing again, harder this time, eyes filling with tears.

"Ok… as a doctor, in my professional opinion, I do believe you are sick Angela."

"I know", she wheezed, throat still very dry, "I'll take some cough medicine when I get home." She explained, hoping he wouldn't worry and would drop the subject completely. She wiped the water from her eyes and continued, "but, hey, you're proposing, so get dressed and I shall be back to judge you!"

"Yeah alright, I'll call you in when I'm done getting pretty." House said poking at the shirt, like it may attack. Angela quickly made her exit and stepped into the living room just in time to hear the doorbell ring.

"I've got it!" She screeched to her uncle, far louder than necessary.

**A/N**: That's chapter one folks! Thanks for stopping by and please review!


	2. Little Bombshells

**House-of-insanity:** House proposing to you, interesting plot twist…but no.

**Randa05:** Ok I'm not sure exactly how sick I'm going to make Angie, but I can tell you she probably won't die…if that helps.

**Cavechick: **Sammie crazy! LOL, ok we'll just say they've been dating steady since the last story; it talks a little bit more about the relationship in this one.

**Mollisk & Nikelodean:** Indeed, Angela is great! She has some wicked comments sometimes!

**Chapter:** 2. Little Bombshells

Now I cannot speak 

_I lost my voice_

_I'm speechless and redundant_

'_Cause I love you's not enough_

_I'm lost for words_

-Redundant, Green Day

"I've got it!" She screeched to her uncle, far louder than necessary. Seeing who was before her, upon opening the door, Angela had formed a puzzled look on her face. "Hey, Al, what on Earth are you doing ringing the doorbell? You realize you _live_ here, right?

"Yeah I-I don't think I want to come in just yet…and, I wanted to talk to you, actually." Cameron answered, fumbling with her words. She appeared to be shaking ever so slightly; she fidgeted with her hands and look like she had been crying.

"Yeah, of course, ok, let's step outside for a while and we can talk." Angle grabbed her sweater, from the armrest of a nearby chair and walked outside. She put on the sweater, not bothering with the zipper, she gently took Cameron by the elbow and steered her to the sidewalk, slowly strolling down the street. "Ok, so talk to me, what's going on, why don't you want to go home?"

Allison Cameron slowed her pace greatly, but didn't stop, "it's not that I don't want to go home…it's just…not yet, I need to think about some things and like I said I wanted to talk to you."

"Alright, talk to me." Angie said, between coughs.

"Are you ok?" Allison said concerned, resting a sympathetic hand on Angie's shoulder.

"Yeah yeah, I'm fine, but your not, so talk to me." Angie stated calmly, urging Cameron to continue.

Cameron brought both hands down to her sides, swinging her arms gently in order to distract herself from her nerves. She drew in an unsteady breath, "I'm pregnant."

Angela stopped dead, her expression blank, "Oooh…huh?"

"I'm pregnant!" Cameron said louder and hopefully clearer.

"Right, ok…and it's definitely…but your not going to…and you've…" Angela tried to say; for the first time she wasn't really sure what to say.

"It's Greg's, I'm definitely keeping it and I haven't been to the doctor's yet." Cameron quickly said, happy to get it all out.

"Oh." Angie giggled; she started laughing and kept on laughing until Cameron stopped her.

"What? What is so funny about that?" Cameron snapped slightly irritated that she was laughing at her and her situation.

"Greg, Later on he'll have to deal with the hormones, mood swings and cravings, he'll go insane." She explained linking arms with Allison swinging around, walking back to the house.

"I'm not sure when to tell him, I mean when's a good time to tell someone something like this?" The ladies dropped their arms, and Cameron looked down at her feet as she walked.

"Anytime after tonight should be fine. You should probably wait a few days, until your used to the idea yourself."

"Right, that seems smart." Cameron nodded.

"Duh it's smart, I said it after all! So when did you find out, for sure that you were pregnant?" Angie was smiling now, this would be good, she'd finally have a cousin and watching her uncle Greg go crazy would be pretty entertaining too.

"Today, at work, I had to run some tests, as usual, and…decided to run one more. After I found out I talked to Cuddy, she's the only one that knows." She said answering Angie's curious question. It felt really good to talk about this with someone, since she learned the news she had been uneasy and nervous.

"Okay lady, we're back now and your eyes are all pink and you look funny, and you're going out to dinner so you got to look good, so let's go pretty you up." Angie stated very chipper, but very insistent, pushing Cameron towards her car. She seated her in the passengers seat, grabbed make-up from Cameron's purse and dropped it in her lap. Allison applied her make-up, fixed her hair and Angie told her she looked quite lovely.

"I oughta go get Greg, just wait here, I'll get him and than you can go." Angela skipped on over to the house, walked to Greg's bedroom and knocked loudly on the door.

"Huh, who's that?" Greg grunted, he sounded startled like the knocking woke him up.

"It's your niece, stupid!"

"Oh…you can come in."

She entered carefully, noticing that House was sitting up in bed wearing his dress clothes.

"Just sitting up contemplating the meaning of the term 'dress'? Oh Greg you fell asleep and now there are little wrinkles on the back of your shirt! And tuck in your shirt, what are you, a hobo?"

"You know I'd be sarcastic and jokingly call you my mother, but you're far worse than she is!" House called out to her, gingerly putting on his shoes.

"You be good and nice or I'll call grandma and tell on you! She probably doesn't even know you're proposing, she'd love to here about that!" She smiled a wicked smile.

"Ok, ok! I surrender, I'm at your mercy." He had both shoes on now, and had thrown both hands in the air in a melodramatic fashion, than reached over for his cane.

"Good that's what I like to hear, but your cute little date's out front so go and surrender to her."

"Ok I'm going, but you're staying here to do the thing, with the thing, for the thing…right?" House narrowed his eyes, speaking about his stealthy scheme.

"Not quite, you're going to dinner, you'll talk, tell her how you love her, I'll be here making dessert and then I'll go home, you'll come back serve the dessert and propose."

"That's exactly what I said."

"Yeah, but the way you said it made it sound like some conspiracy."

He cocked his head to the side, "it's not?" He turned and hobbled down the hall and out the door.

"You're hopeless!" Angela hollered after him.

At the restaurant the hostess took them to their reserved table and told them their waiter would be out soon. House leaned over and pulled out the chair for Cameron to sit down. She was surprised, but pleasantly surprised. A tall, polite waiter came to take their drink orders, and very soon delivered the drinks and took the meal order. House knowing the food would take much longer than the drink decided this was a good opening to start his speech.

"Allison I-" He stopped, fell silent.

It hit him, the speechlessness. What was he going to say? What _should_ he say? He couldn't simply say 'I love you', it wasn't enough, he needed more, she needed more. It was redundant and unfair. He knew exactly how he felt and he needed her to know. He collected his thoughts and tried again.

A/N: Ok I hope you liked this chapter, it was kind of hard to write because I kept forgetting what I was doing, not the best short term memory! Well, thanks for reading, hope you liked it and I hope you'll review!


	3. The Big Brownie

**Chapter:** 3. The Big Brownie

Be, be the one I need   
_Be the one I trust most_  
_Don't stop inspiring me_  
-Running, No Doubt

"Allison I-you make me feel…okay, like there's nothing wrong with me. Your loyalty and compassion mean more to me than you know. On our first date I told you that I was what you need because I was damaged, but I was wrong, I had it the other way around, I need you. I need you and I want you." Cameron looked utterly shocked, she knew he loved her, but he was never the one to spell out precisely how he felt and to go into detail.

"Clean the house _Angela_, make the dessert _Angela_, get the flowers _Angela_, set everything up _Angela_…" She bickered bitterly to herself, fully aware that she had volunteered to do all these things, but it was all still just as frustrating. He was at an expansive, fancy restaurant professing his love to his wife-to-be-mother-of-his-unborn-child and she was preparing the scene in which he was to propose. Red and white rose petals were scattered about all over the living room, and a small table sat in the middle of the room with two chairs and two long, unlit, white candles on top. She finished her pointless complaining and whistled a dull tune while stirring wildly at the batter in the bowl.

"I…don't know what to say."

"You don't _have _to say anything, I'm just telling you how I feel." He assured her nonchalantly, like this confession of his feelings was some ordinary occurrence. Which was as far from the truth as possible, but he was to propose later that night and he had to lay down the groundwork. His decision to propose came after he had finally come clean to himself about his true feelings, after he decided just how much he loved her, after he decided he knew he wanted to spend the rest of his life with her and after he convinced himself this was right.

"Greg, I love you." It was simple, but full of meaning.

"Ahh! I am the brownie master! He may have his secret double chocolate brownie recipe, but I have created the worlds biggest, bestest brownie…EVER! Giant triple chocolate brownie, fudge, chocolate sauce, whipped cream and nuts!" She exclaimed in sly fury, but couldn't help giggling at 'nuts', she was in a mischievous, immature mood. The big brownie was baking, and Angie was standing before the oven anxiously waiting in her oven mitts. She planned on making a simple angel food cake, but she had learned that Al was pregnant, so she just went chocolate crazy.

The waiter came back to the table without the food, but with a short booklet in hand.

"Would you like to see the wine menu before dinner, sir?"

"No! No-no I don't think we'll be having any wine tonight, thank-you." Cameron cut in before House got a chance to consider a reply. He raised his eyebrows than frowned, but didn't say anything or bring it up again.

Moments later the food arrived and they ate in peace. They talked and laughed about things that happened at work, their co-workers and each other. Sharing a house they discussed everyday things like picking up more toilet paper and rearranging furniture. Cameron had subtly brought up the topic of possibly re-doing the spare room, but when House suggested an entertainment room with an over-sized TV, she suggested discussing the subject later. They finished their meals and drinks and got up to pay the bill and leave for home.

Angela set the plate back down on the kitchen table and whipped her head to the side, resting her chin on her shoulder, beginning to cough. While coughing she made sure not to cough near the table, getting her gross germs all over the engagement dessert wouldn't be very nice.

"Oh crap." She moaned, "Maybe I do have a little flu or something." Her voice was rough and hoarse from the coughing.

The uncontaminated plate sitting on the table was filled with a big square triple chocolate brownie, topped in fudge chunks, drizzled with chocolate sauce, topped with whipped cream and sprinkled with nuts. She carried it over to the little table in the living room, placed it between the candles and set two spoons on either side of the plate. She stood back admiring her work, looking on at the pretty living room when a wave of nausea hit her; she slapped her hand to her mouth and rushed to the bathroom.

She leaned back from the toilet, flushing and shutting her eyes tightly. She sighed, she felt dizzy and her head was throbbing. She was finished setting up for the big proposal, so she shut the bathroom door behind her, grabbed her sweater, locked the door with a key Greg had lent her, and walked home for a long, much needed sleep.

They walked to the front door, waiting briefly for Greg to unlock and open the door. Allison had a great look of awe on her face, seeing the candles, flowers and all the chocolate.

"Greg! You did all this?"

"Yes…no, but I helped…well, it was my idea." He shrugged, but held his smile.

Cameron walked over to the table and took a seat, "So you made Angela do it?" she laughed.

"I didn't make her do anything, I asked nicely and she generously offered to do it." He said, sitting across from her. "Hey…I wanted to ask you something…"

"Alright, go ahead."

"I love you…Allison Cameron, will you marry me?"

A/N: Do you like the song quotes? Thanks for reading, please review, and I'll update soon.


	4. Morning Glory

**Chapter:** 4. Morning Glory

_Everything I believed in, has lied to me_

Now this could be the best day, of my life 

-Where Are You, Our Lady Peace

She was very organized and had a good memory, but had managed to forget to take any medicine the night before. Her step-mom was convinced she was a little ADD, but her dad thought she was a little OCD; they decided whatever disorders she had would counter act each other and she'd be fine. She was fine, a bit quirky at times, but fine, although quirky wasn't a very good trait when it came to remembering to take your meds. She didn't feel good at all, her throat was really sore and she still felt slightly nauseous. Since she was asleep now she felt better, it was quiet and peaceful. That ended badly when the phone began to ring loudly; some genius had put the cordless phone on her bedside table. She had a great urge to throw to phone across the room and let it smash to bits, but that would require her to move her arm and she was far to tired. She gave in and slowly reached over for the evil noisy thing.

"You realize you've risked your life by waking me, right?" She mumbled angrily into the dumb phone.

"Greg proposed last night!" The overexcited Allison exclaimed in delight.

"Yeah, duh…so what did you say?" Angela asked, she sounded uninterested, but she still wanted to be sure.

"Of course I said 'yes'."

"Oh goody, I can rest easy now, so…are you going to tell him about you being all pregnant, or let him figure it out, test his diagnostic skills?" Angie sat up in bed, and cleared her throat with a bad cough.

"No, I'm going to tell him, I'm just not sure when the right time is, I mean, this is big news."

"Again, duh. Well…they say there's no time like the present. I have no idea who says that, but people say that, it's a saying." Angela bravely got to her feet to get some clothes.

"I think he may already know…I didn't want wine last night, I wanted to re-do the spare room, and he's looking at me differently…"

"Of course he's looking at you differently, you're his fiancée now, he's never had one of those before. And I doubt he knows, he'd probably be catatonic now if he did." Angie rummaged through her clothes grabbing a pair of jeans and a t-shirt.

"Ok, yeah. We're having an engagement party for close friends and family, so I'll tell him before then, and at the party we can tell everyone together."

"As long as he's not catatonic, stock up on smelling salts and you should be good. That sounds like a good plan though. You want me to bring anything to this little party of yours?"

"Just yourself and maybe some more brownies. It'll start at three o'clock."

"Alright I guess it was good that you woke me than, I'd probably still be asleep at three." She was fully clothed now and more or less awake. They said their good-byes and hung up, Angela headed to the kitchen to make more of her masterpiece brownies.

Allison Cameron paced back and forth in the living room, wringing her hands and trying to find a way to break the news to Greg House that she was pregnant. The table, chairs and candles had been put away, the brownie eaten, plate and spoons cleaned, petals picked up and the flowers placed in a vase on the coffee table. The man had probably just gotten used to the idea of becoming a husband, how was she supposed to tell him he was going to be a father? Her head hurt and she was scared. What would he think or say? How would he react? She thought about band-aids and how most people ripped it off quick, got it over with. She wanted it to be quick and painless. She timidly stepped into the bedroom and eased herself on the edge on the bed next to House. He was sitting up, his legs straight and he was playing his Gameboy quietly, concentrating. She slid her eyelids shut and sighed.

"I'm pregnant." She forced her eyes open, faced him and braced herself for his reaction.

He said nothing, his eyes widened slightly and he was still. The game beeped softly, his little spaceship had just been blown to bits. Cameron's stomach fell; maybe he really was catatonic. She leaned forward and touched his arm gently, concerned.

"Greg…Greg?"

"Yeah…" Was the only thing he managed say.

"Are you ok?

He set down the Gameboy, turned to her and his mouth formed a little, but sincere half-smile. "Whoa."

She giggled, smiled, and crawled up the bed towards him to give him a big hug. He wrapped his arms around her and lightly stroked the back of her head. "Yes, big whoa." Cameron said easing her grip.

"So no big screen TV?"

She pulled away laughing and sat up next to him. His arm around her shoulders and her head rested on his shoulder.

"No TV, but diapers and bottles and baby things."

"Whatever, when the baby comes we can leave it with Angela and Wilson, run away and come back when it's potty trained."

"No! I want my baby!" Allison pouted.

"Yeah…but it'll be okay, right?…we'll be good parents…oh god we're going to be parents." House said slowly, unsure.

"Yes, we'll be fine parents. Let's worry about those things when the time comes, right now we need to focus on getting married and telling everybody about us. I wanna get married before I get big, I want a nice dress."

"I think you'd look hot in a maternity wedding dress. Everyone's going to think this is some shotgun wedding anyway."

"I don't care what anyone thinks, I'm happy." Allison mumbled, closing her eyes and drifting off to sleep, something she had robbed Angela of. She had called all of their close relatives and friends inviting them to the small party. It was noon and the small party started at three, so she still had plenty of time for some sleep and to set up some drinks and snacks.

Angela, after an hour and a half, was watching four pans of brownie batter bake in the oven. She was certainly awake, but still kind of tired, so when Morning Glory by Oasis came on her stereo she muttered something about irony and smiled to herself.

A/N: Thanks again for reading you rock! Please review!


	5. From The Top

**Chapter: **5. From The Top

"If this is your idea of a party, I can tell you right now you're going to be very boring parents." Angela said sadly, cutting the brownie squares into smaller bite sized pieces.

"Hey now, you can't judge my party until everyone gets here and it really starts." Cameron answered in defense.

"Yeah, who are we waiting for now? Grandma, Grandpa, Bob and Jim? This Place will really get swinging when they arrive." Angie couldn't help but laugh at this. The only ones here so far, were Foreman and a few of Allison's other friends. Foreman was sitting uncomfortably in the middle of House's couch. House, Cameron and Angela were standing talking in the kitchen. "You might want to try entertaining the guests that _are _here, poor little Eric Forman looks like a fish out of water."

"I still think we should wait until everyone gets here before we do anything." Cameron replied.

"Oh hey the grandparents are here, now it's a party!" Angie poked her head out of the kitchen entrance to yell, "Hi Grandma! Grandpa!"

"Hello Angela." Her grandmother called sweetly from the front door way. Just after they walked in, Wilson came up behind them.

"Greg?" Mr. House said, his wife and him not able to see where their son was.

"In the kitchen dad."

"Ok, so everyone but Chase is here, should we tell everyone?"

"Hey guys, you might as well, now's as good a time as any! You can just break the news to Bob when he does get here. One must pay for being fashionably late." Angie said making her way into the living room with everyone else, sandwiching herself between Foreman and Wilson on the couch.

"Greg, what's going on here? What aren't you telling us?" Mrs. House questioned as if her son's news was potentially something she should worry about.

"I think I'll let the pretty lady tell everyone instead." House said nervously looking over to his fiancée for a little help. Cameron had no chance to start because the door swung open before she could open her mouth.

Chase looked a little embarrassed with everyone staring at him, but Angie was never too shy to speak up. "Somebody's tardy! It's quarter after three, just sit down!" Chase walked over and sat on a small chair next to the couch and muttered a little apology for his being late.

"Ok, now that everyone is here…well, we're getting married…and, I'm pregnant." Cameron told the crowd; everyone made their way over to congratulate the couple. They were all so excited and made such a fuss over the engagement announcement that not many had heard about Cameron's pregnancy, until one of Cameron's friend blurted out, "You're _what_?"

"Pregnant." Allison said with no difficulty at all, she had grown used to the idea, not fully prepared yet, but content.

Diane, a good friend Allison had met in college and still kept in contact with, squealed softly and grabbed her friend in a huge hug, Cameron just laughed and hugged her back. Wilson and the other ducklings made their way over to House, Chase looking slightly confused.

" Well I'm very happy for the both of you." Mrs. House said placing a hand on her son's shoulder, she leaned in a little closer to him, "She's a lovely girl Greg." She seemed sincere, but her tone seemed to say 'don't you mess this up'.

Wilson standing by his friend's side said, with a stupid grin on his face, "You knocked her up?"

"Oh shut up, _James_." House said annoyed, saying Wilson's name as is it was an insult.

Cameron laughed and stepped closer to House's side; everyone, but Angela was fawning over the newly engaged couple laughing and talking. Angie had already heard everything there was to know about the situation. She just slouched into the couch, coughed and rolled her eyes.

"This party in unbelievable!" Angie sighed

Fifteen minutes later everything had settled down and Angela finally found something to entertain herself. On the couch sat Foreman and Mr. House, on the small chair next to the couch was Wilson, sitting cross-legged on the floor with his back facing the couch was Chase and across from him also sitting cross-legged was Angie. She leaned forward on her elbows, staring him down.

"Do you have any sevens?" Angie narrowed her eyes and sized up the competition.

"Nope, no sevens, go fish." Chase answered with a smug grin, taking another bite of his brownie. Angie rolled her eyes and fished through the pile of cards on the coffee table between them.

"Oooh a seven! Ha! In your face Bob!" Angela smiled triumphantly.

"Alright, do you have an ace?"

"No, go fish." Angie said, dancing her last card around on the table in front of her.

"Oh…your turn." Chase replied, very disappointed at the card he had fished out.

There was only one card left in the pile, Angie held one card and Chase had two.

"Ok…do you have a queen?"

"Uhh…yes." Chase reluctantly handed over the card, the card Angie needed to win 'go fish'.

"It's really too bad your parents couldn't make it here. Are you going to call them?" Mrs. House sat in the kitchen with her son, Cameron and Diane. Cameron's other friends left a few minutes ago.

"Yes, I think I'll try again later. My parents are visiting my sister in New York, and the line has been busy for the past few hours." Cameron answered, taking another sip from her coffee mug.

"I personally think they should just take their time, it's not everyday you get to visit your children out of state, but hey, you'll be pregnant for a few more months. They can take their sweet time in New York."

"Afraid to meet the in-laws Greg?" Cameron questioned with a smile, hands on her hips.

"He violated a what?" Grandpa House asked Foreman regarding what he had just told him about Dr. House.

"He violated a DNR: Do Not Resuscitate." Foreman explained.

"Oh I know what a DNR is, you just need to quit mumbling, I may be old but I'm not ignorant." Mr. House said; Angela smiled as Foreman began to look uncomfortable.

"Oh no, I didn't mean to offend you, I just…"

"That's alright…uhh…"

"His name's Eric Foreman, Grandpa." Offered Angie opening the box to the next game she and Chase would play.

" 'Hungry Hungry Hippos'? House has 'Hungry Hungry Hippos'?" Chase asked totally surprised.

"I think I brought it here one day and just forgot to bring it home." Angie said setting up the game, making sure all the little white pellet things were in the middle.

"Ok get your hippo ready…1…2…3!" Angie and Chase began smacking their hippos to get them to eat the little white balls. Angela used her other hand to push down lightly on the edge of the plastic game board, all the uneaten pellets rolled towards her hippo's mouth. In the end Angie won because her hippo had consumed the most balls.

"Hey! That's not fair you've cheated!" Chase snapped upset over his loss.

"I didn't cheat, I was being strategic." Angie corrected him with a smug grin.

"You tipped the game over!"

"Exactly, that was my strategy." She said widening her grin.

Angie began coughing hard, her head hurt and she began to feel a bit tired. The three doctors and the concerned Grandparent sitting by her began to stare.

"Angie, you ok?" Wilson asked somewhat leaning forward, to face her.

"I'm alright its just a little cough, I'll take some cough medicine when I get home."

"Make sure you do, if your grandmother hears that little cough she'll bring you home with us to take care of you!" Her Grandpa had a slight warning in his tone and had his eyebrows raised. Angie laughed out loud, her Grandma was the sweetest woman, but if she felt it was necessary she tended to baby the people she loved.

"Is it a boy or a girl?" Diane asked, she seemed as excited as House's mom.

"I don't know yet, I just found out yesterday that I was pregnant." Cameron smiled and kind of shook her head at her friend's excitement.

"Well… what do you want it to be?" Diane piped up again.

"I think I'd want a girl. Hey, what about you? What do you want, boy or girl?" Cameron turned to House eager to hear what he'd prefer.

"I don't care as long as it's healthy and not dumb."

"Oh come on! That's a total cop out! You have to have given this some thought, boy or girl?" Cameron pleaded.

"I honestly haven't thought about it that much, I'm not sure, but I guess I'd like a boy." He admitted with a shrug, receiving a smile from Allison.

After the party had died down, she had walked home with a feeling in the pit of her stomach like she was forgetting something important. She was standing, leaning against the edge of the kitchen table finally remembering about her meds. She kicked over a step stool from the corner, placing it below the kitchen cupboard. She felt very dizzy and silently cursed whoever put the medicine and pills on the very top shelf of the kitchen cupboard. She climbed the few steps of the stool and opened the cupboard doors. She felt lightheaded and tired, her vision began to blur slightly, she tried to reach for the cupboard doors for support, but couldn't. She fainted; she fell back, knocking her head on the table before falling to the hardwood floor.


	6. Meaningful Conversation

**A/N:** Ok I'll just warn you right now (so you don't go poking bears or throwing pudding about the place, Sammie!) the next few updates will be delayed because I'm babysitting for a few days. Thank you all for continuing to read and sending the nice reviews! The story will definitely be back soon! Luv, Lola

**Chapter:** 6. Meaningful Conversation

_And the tears come streaming down your face_

_When you lose something you can't replace_  
_When you love someone but it goes to waste_  
_Could it be worse_  
-Fix You, Coldplay

She was sitting lengthwise on their couch with her legs outstretched before her and her knees rested in his lap. He had recently taken another two Vicodin and had finally agreed to discuss their upcoming nuptials.

"We could just run off to Vegas, get a quickie marriage, have Elvis perform the ceremony, that's classy right?"

"I don't understand why you're so keen on eloping, what's wrong with a traditional wedding, with family and bridesmaids and vows and a cake and a nice dress and…"

"And how do you expect to pay for a crib and diapers and clothes and bottles when we've spent all our savings on a wedding gown and catering?"

"Fine, we'll have a small wedding, but we're staying within the city limits." She said with a stern tone, she may not be having a fantasy wedding, but she most certainly will not have an Elvis wedding either.

"No Vegas? I don't want it in a church though, they're so old… it might collapse on us or something."

"That's not likely. I think an outdoor wedding would be nice, we could have it in a park at sunset. With only very close relatives and friends." Her voice sort of drifted off as she thought of what the wedding she described would be like.

"Uh huh, and to cut costs, instead of inviting Foreman and Chase we could just not." He said with a happy smile, only to get a pillow thrown at his head.

"Nice try! They get to come!"

"But…oh…you should get that." The phone began ringing, he would normally just ignore it, but if it was something important they would just keep calling and the phone would keep ringing and he didn't want this conversation interrupted, interruptions only prolonged the discussion.

"Hello…Oh…Oh no…what happened?…ok, we'll be right there." Cameron clicked the phone off and turned to House with a worried expression.

"What?" Her worried look made him worry.

"That was your mom, she said Angela was brought to the hospital earlier." Cameron had quickly gotten up and was now grabbing for her shoes.

"Why? What happened? Why is she in the hospital?" He demanded, he was clearly upset and there was a hint of desperation in his voice.

"She didn't know, she said Roger just called her and told her that he had called an ambulance and was on his way to the hospital himself." Her shoes were on and House was seated putting on his own shoes.

"But why did he call the ambulance? Wait- Roger called her? Why didn't he call me himself?"

"He hates you! He probably doesn't want you there." She grabbed her car keys and headed out, followed by House.

"Stupid selfish prick…" House muttered to himself, he and Roger had had a mutual hatred.

House would have preferred to drive there himself since he would have gone much quicker, but as Cameron told him he would have been speeding and would wind up crashing themselves into a tree. The last thing anyone needed at the moment was another car crash. Mrs. House had informed Cameron that Angela was taken to the Princeton Plainsboro Teaching Hospital since it was the closest to her home. After parking they rushed into the hospital and straight to the front desk.

"Angela House, what room is she in? She was brought in earlier today."

"I'm sorry sir, no one named 'Angela House' has been admitted here today." The receptionist held a straight face and her tone was flat and dull.

"What do you-"

"Greg!" His mother was at the other end of the lobby, in the middle of the hallway. He hurried over, at least she'd tell him what room Angela was in.

"Where is she? What happened?" Apparently he was pretty quick for a cripple, because Cameron was a few paces behind him now.

"Calm down dear, I'm not sure what happened, but the doctor just left and he said it would be best if there was only one visitor at a time, two at the most, Roger's in there now."

"Have you seen her?" He asked his mother; his voice was not soft and steadied, but still sounded slightly desperate.

"I saw her when I came in, she doesn't look good, Greg." Angela's Grandmother sighed and cast another weary glance and the closed blinds of the hospital room.

Without another word he pushed open the door and entered his niece's room, leaving his mother and fiancée standing in the hall. He drew in a small gasp seeing Angela, she looked just like her mother had and it was heartbreaking. She was pale and had dark circles around her eyes, her head bandaged and her arms laid out hooked up to the machines. She was the spitting image of her mother when she was Angela's age, although she had inherited her father, Roger's, eyes. House hadn't seen her like this in years and the only time he had ever seen his sister like this was at her funeral.

"What the hell are you doing here?" Roger spat furiously; tightening his grasp of his daughter's hand, like an animal protecting it's young, as if he was afraid that House would steal her away from him.

"Just here to keep you company, we both know how pleasant you are to be around. Tell me what happened." House pulled up a chair, sitting at the foot of her bed.

"I have no idea, I came home and found her in the kitchen…she was lying unconscious, blood around her head…I'm not sure just what happened. How'd you find out about this?"

"My mommy called me. What did the doctor tell you?" House questioned, needing to know her condition, he resorted to talking to Roger since he saw no chart.

"Uhh…something about head trauma. He said she should be fine, but they want to keep her for a few nights for observation." Roger muttered, his attention suddenly drawn to his beeping pager, he used his free hand to see who had paged him. "Oh...I've got to take this." He mumbled to himself, dropping his daughter's hand and leaving to use his cell phone.

"So that's it? You're just going to leave her?" House snapped annoyed at Roger's exit attempt.

"This is important, I-"

"And she's not? She's your daughter for Christ's sake!"

"Angela is very important to me, I love her. If I don't make this call and make this meeting I will be fired. Without a job whose to pay for medical bills, food, huh? I realize you'd like to think I don't care for her, but I do." He snapped back, angered that House would question his priorities as a parent.

"So all those years when she lived with her mother and rarely saw her father, that was you caring for her?" House said infuriated with the man.

"Oh will you two kindly just shut up!" Angie groaned from her bed, holding her temples.

"Oh god, Angela, how are you? How do you feel?" Her father pleaded, once again clasping her hand.

"I'm just fabulous, although my head _does_ hurt." She glared at her father, one eye open, both hands at the sides of her head.

"Yeah, right, stupid question…look Angela, I need to go into work for a while, but I'll be back as soon as I can, ok?"

"Uh huh ok, go away then, leave me." Angie managed a smile and waved her father away. Roger left, only to be replaced by Cameron and Grandma House.

"Well, hi granny…oh jeez." Angie was tackled into a great hug by her grandma, who was softly sobbing into her shoulder. "Ok Grandma hug me any tighter and I'll suffocate."

"Oh hunny, that isn't funny" Her grandmother sighed, dabbing a tissue at her eyes.

"I know, suffocation's no joke and for future reference I really don't think head trauma's a hoot either." She said smiling, slightly wincing at her words.

No one spoke for a short while, they all stared at Angela, making her feel more uncomfortable.

"Hey Angela, what would you think of an outdoor wedding, at sunset, that'd be beautiful, right?" Cameron asked sounding quite cheerful.

She raised her eyebrows slightly, "You are such a dork." Angie leaned forward and cupped her mouth and coughed sharply; her head ached. "Yes that sounds beautiful and it'll be even more beautiful if I don't have to be _in_ the wedding, I just want to be there... I'm sleepy."

__

Lights will guide you home

  
_And ignite your bones _  
_And I will try to fix you_  
-Fix You, Coldplay 


	7. Stoned and Screaming

**Chapter: **7. Stoned and Screaming

_I know you've supported me for a long time_   
_Somehow I'm not impressed_  
-NYC, Interpol

"So you think two years of parenting makes up for thirteen years of pretending like I wasn't there?" She was angry now, her father was back and they were in the middle of another fight.

"It's not like that! Besides you're just trying to make me feel guilty so you can get your way! I told you I already talked to the doctor and he won't let you go, yet."

"Well screw that, talk to him again, you're a damn lawyer! They have no right to keep me here against my will! Go be a father, get them to release me!" She screamed louder this time and a few tears fell down her cheeks.

Roger shook his head, sighed and stalked out of the room. As he walked a few heads turned, they had heard all the yelling loud and clear.

"Mr. McGrath!" Roger turned hearing his name and stopped, Dr. Chase strode up to the man looking confused. "What was that all about, why was Angela screaming like that?"

Roger rolled his eyes and continued to walk, "she really doesn't like hospitals."

As soon as the man was out of earshot Chase muttered, "and for good reason." Angela's mother died in a hospital and the memories still hurt.

"Hey, Angie, you ok?" Chase said sheepishly, stepping into the girl's room.

"No, me and hospitals don't really get along." Angela sat up and yawned softly, then coughed harshly.

"No and apparently you and your father don't get along too well either." Chase smirked.

"Yeah, we're usually fine, but I guess he was right, I was just hassling the guy so he'd get the doctor's to let me out early."

"Well, in my opinion, that wouldn't be a wise decision, you should still stay here for a while." Chase scolded her like she should know better; even if she hated hospitals she needed the care.

"Well, Dr. Chase, we already know precisely what's wrong with me, nasty cold and a wicked case of bronchitis, so just send me home with a pail of antibiotics and I'll be great." She smiled what she hoped was a cute, convincing smile.

"If the doctor agrees you can leave, but if anything else happens you know you'll be sent straight back."

"Uh huh, I'll be fine, I promise, scouts honor!" She just grinned.

"Scouts? When were you in scouts?" He would've scoffed if he weren't so interested.

"I was in girl guides for about a year, I learned the importance of recycling, it was a very special experience." She laughed a bit, which ended up sounding quite weird since her voice was so strained.

"I'm sure, you just rest and I might be back later." He got up from his chair and started for the door.

"Hey if you see my lame uncle tell him if he doesn't come see me I'll beat him up!" She smiled brighter and rested her head in her hand.

"I don't think in your condition you'll be beating anyone up for a while, even a crippled man." He grinned himself and turned to leave.

"You trying to discourage me Dr. Chase?"

The patient was lying on the exam room floor laughing hysterically, as if what he had just said was some hilarious joke. House was silently begging he was stuck with a snotty toddler, rather than this stoned moron. He couldn't possibly have ticked off Cuddy enough to deserve this. An ignorant donkey could tell this man had been smoking something on the illegal side.

"According to your chart you've experienced pain in your ankle, I'd give you something for said pain, but it looks like you've been helping yourself." He'd normally be quite amused by the scene his patient was causing, but after twenty minutes of stoner boy's immature antics even House got a little tired of this.

The patient, Trevor Boyd, collected himself and sat on the exam room table, as still as he was capable of, "Yeah, my…uh…ankle hurts, and it like…hurts to…uh…walk on my ankle."

"How articulate. Yes I believe you have sprained that ankle of yours, so we'll wrap it up nice and tight and I'll see you and your ankle later to see how you're doing." House then preceded the approach the patient, wrap the ankle and send him on his much-too-merry way.

Gregory House limped from the clinic sighing, exasperated and popped a few Vicodin, before meeting up with Allison Cameron.

"Well hello dear, how are we doing this fine afternoon?" House chimed to his lovely fiancée.

"Vomiting hourly, and you?" She said bitterly, her pregnancy was being quite the bitch today.

"Keeping my breakfast down, thank you very much. Have you had anything else to eat today?"

"No it just ends up in the garbage half-digested anyway. I'll try eating again later though, I need to, I'm feeding twice the people. Have you seen Angela yet today?"

"I peeked in this morning but the kid was sleeping, I swear if she didn't need to eat or drink or be sarcastic the child would probably sleep all day. I'll go see her now, make sure she hasn't taken any hostages in her fit of hostility." House explained and started heading towards Angela's room.

Cameron followed and frowned, "What do you mean hostility?"

"I heard she's been screaming wildly throughout the hospital halls, although that may be a slight exaggeration, you know how doctors imaginations can run from them after a few hours cooped up in a stuffy old hospital."

House opened the door, holding it for Cameron to enter first. They walked in slowly looking at the girl like she may snap any second now.

"Hello people, here to ask me how I'm doing?" Angela tried a smile, she wasn't sure what to do or say, the two visitors were staring at her like they were expecting to see her head spin in place exorcist-style.

"Yeah, so…how are you doing?" Allison asked, pulling up a chair at the foot of the bed, House leaned against the wall next to her.

"As fine as can be expected. About me screaming, which I assumed you heard about, I was just yelling at my dad to go talk to the doctors about something." She said with a small nod to House.

He nodded himself, "And I assume it doesn't take a genius to assume what you wanted him to talk to your doctor about."

"Yeah, yeah, I'm tired of this place, I want to go home, I don't like it here." She grumbled, playing with her bed sheets.

"Did mom come by today?" House questioned, hi eyebrows slightly raised, he was surprised that his mother wasn't chained to the girl's bedside.

"Yes, grandma and grandpa thoughtfully came by for a visit today. They brought me a coloring book and crayons and I made sure that I colored outside of the lines and spelled my name wrong." Angela gave the people what they wanted; you treat her like a little kid, she'll act like a little kid, that and she found it rather amusing that everyone was starting to suspect she'd become brain dead.

Roger strolled trough the door looking tired and bored, he gave a long over dramatic sigh and sat next to his daughter. "Ok Angie we're leaving."

Angela sighed again, in relief this time, and gave an appreciative smile, "Thank you, now go home and get me some clothes, if I walk out of the building in this thing I think people will think I'm an escaped mental patient." Angie smiled and gave her father a hug, and Roger left obeying his daughter's wish.

A few short seconds after Roger had exited House piped up, "Since when do you care what people think?"

A/N: ok that chapter was short and kind of pointless, but whatever! I have serious writer's block and will be baby-sitting for the next four days, so the next chapters will take a while!


	8. Blame The Squirrels

**A/N:** Ok just a quick warning before you read, if Cameron seems out of character just remember she's pregnant! Poor lady has pregnancy hormones, so if she seems insanely perky or weird it was all done on purpose. If anyone else seems OOC or anything else is off please let me know, I haven't updated in a while and I need to get back into it!

**Chapter: **8. Blame The Squirrels

_At the most I'm a glare,_  
_I'm the hopeless son who's hardly there._  
_I'm the open sign that's always busted._  
_I'm the friend you need, but can't be trusted._  
-Something Pretty, Patrick Park

A few short seconds after Roger had exited House piped up, "Since when do you care what people think?"

"Oh I don't, I just don't want a bunch of men in white lab coats chasing me around town with big butterfly nets trying to catch me and send me back to the asylum!" Angie spat out quickly and sounded like she actually considered this a potential threat.

"I don't think you'll need to worry about that…at least not for a while." James Wilson said stepping into the room and standing next to his friend.

"Why do you people keep coming into my room? What is so exciting about this hospital room? Is there some super secret surprise or invisible squirrels or something?" Angie squinted her eyes and leaned forward.

"Umm…no, but _you're_ here." Wilson offered, receiving a disappointed look from the girl.

"Aw, I'm boring…I wish it was squirrels…I like squirrels." Angie sunk down into the sheets and looked like she was attempting to hide beneath the covers. "I don't see any squirrels." Angela giggled to herself.

"Well I don't think you'd be seeing any invisible squirrels." Cameron explained wearing a big grin. Angie sat up in bed and cocked and eyebrow, contemplating what Cameron had just told her. Allison leaned over to House, "What kind of drugs do they have her on?"

Twenty-five minutes later Roger had come back with a pair of jeans and a long sleeve navy shirt. They signed whatever forms they needed, called Angela's grandmother and started driving home.

"How are you?"

"Umm…I'm fine, how are you?" Angie said turning to her father.

"Well I'm alright, I guess, but I meant, how do you feel?" Roger sighed and just stared straight down at the empty road.

"I _feel_ fine." Angie said firmly, she was frustrated.

"You aren't fine Angela, you were just in the hospital, so tell me how you're feeling."

She sighed and looked toward the sky wishing something would just swallow her whole. She falls off a stupid stool once and everybody changes their attitude towards her and pays so much more attention now. "You know this has all been blown way out of proportion. It's just a small cough and a little bump on the head. You guys seem to be acting like you're going to stamp 'fragile' on my forehead and put padding on my walls. This is all no big deal whatsoever."

House had just bitten into a great sandwich and sat down to watch 'General Hospital' when his cheery fiancée bounced into the room.

"Hey." House said spitting out a few crumbs.

"Hi! Want to go shopping with me later? We can pick out a tux, dress, bridesmaid dresses, and flowers and then after that we can pick out the place for the ceremony and then we can start on a guest list!" She smiled and clapped her hands excitedly.

House just looked at her hoping his expression could answer for him; he looked like he was either going to burst out laughing or burst into tears. He was saved from having to decide between the two when he heard a knock at the door. Cameron was closer, but House rushed over and opened the door before she could reach it. For a cripple he was quick when he needed to be.

"Hello mister." Angela greeted her uncle and pushed past him into the living room.

"Hey, what are you doing here? You should be in bed nursing that cold and concussion combo of yours." House scolded her with a frown, closing the door.

"Oh probably, but I thought it's such a nice day why waste it inside when I can go about town running errands. Nothing gets you better quicker than work…actually that's a big lie, but it convinced my dear stepmother. I came to return the key you lent me a few days ago." She paced about the room looking at the books and few pictures her uncle had displayed in the living room, things she'd seen many times before.

"If you had a key why'd you knock?" Cameron curiously asked.

"I was just being polite I suppose." Angie stated softly, looking at Allison.

"I don't want to nag, I could easily leave that to your dad and grandma, but you need to be at home resting, taking medicine, drinking fluids and all those fun things sick people have to do." House said talking down to her like he did when she was much younger.

"I'm not sick!" Angie snapped, and seeing the aggravated, disbelieving look on both House and Cameron's faces, she repeated her weak argument. "I'm _not_ sick!"

"Could've fooled me." House scoffed with a mild shake of his head.

"Oh well yippy Skippy all's good now that I've fooled the unfoolable Gregory House." She replied flatly, with just a touch of sarcasm in her voice.

"Why are you doing this, huh? You're out of the hospital now, you got your way, but if you don't take care of yourself you'll end up right back in the hospital, worse off. Is that really what you want?" House hated having to be the logical voice of reason for others, but if he could help it he wouldn't have his niece fall down some road to self-destruction.

"No, ok you happy? I don't want to end up in the hospital. I had thought that fact was crystal clear, but it doesn't hurt to clarify such things." Angie rolled her eyes and left the house.

House sighed in frustration and leaned against the door. Cameron was just looking down at her toes; neither knew what to say about the situation.

"Well…she's certainly unpredictable." House laughed, Cameron could certainly break any ice.

"Yes she is, I'm just not sure if that's such a good thing right now, I want to know what's going on in her head." House sighed and hobbled over to the couch. A few minutes later, breaking an uncomfortable silence, the phone rang. House picked it up and was rather shocked to hear who was on the other end.


	9. Phones and Fiends

**Chapter: **9. Phones and Fiends

"Hello." He muttered softly, he welcomed the distraction the call created, but that didn't mean he had to be enthusiastic about it, after all it was probably just a phone solicitor trying to interrogate him about his insurance or the state of his carpets.

"Greg? Can we talk?"

"Are you asking if we're capable of speech or are you asking for permission? Because those would probably be two different answers." Before the caller responded, House heard a short fed up sigh.

"I know you're stubborn and I understand that, but please, can we just talk?" House sighed this time; he glanced over at Cameron to see her watching him tentatively.

"Fine."

"Alright, tomorrow morning could you meet me in your office…I wanted to talk to you about something."

"Ok."

He hung up the receiver and rubbed his eyes and temples, which were suddenly felt tired. He had a hunch that what she wanted to talk about was one of the very last things he wanted to talk about.

"Who called?" Cameron said; she had a concerned expression.

"Oh, that? That was just…Wilson." He said lying to his pregnant fiancée.

Damn it! Why must these people call her? She swore this time she would snatch up that stupid phone and throw it with all her might, taking much pride and joy in seeing all the little phone bits scatter to her floor. Still, she'd also enjoy taking comfort in her pillows and mass amount of quilts. She despised being cold. She cringed and inwardly rolled her eyes reaching over for the cordless phone, which seemed to continue finding its way over to her bedside table.

"If you don't simply apologize and hang up I promise you I will find you and beat you with a ladle."

"Ladle? What? I just called to see how you were doing, since you left the hospital." Chase seemed to have been a bit startled by Angela's idle ladle threat.

"And since when do you doctors give house calls?" Her voice was very clear and comprehensible considering her face was buried in a soft, thin pillow.

"Well…I don't normally…I guess I just wanted to know how you were doing. You could say I was a concerned friend."

"Right…as long as you insist that we're _friends_…I suppose I'm doing ok." She sounded more bitter and annoyed than she really was.

"That doesn't sound too convincing."

"That seems to be the popular opinion." Chase never asked for her to elaborate, but he did assume it had something to do with House.

"Alright, well I thought I'd just ask. Goodbye Angela."

"Yeah, buh-bye Dr. Chase." She clicked off the phone.

Angie silently cursed the inventor of the telephone; the dipstick that decided it would be cool to get rid of the cord and especially the jerk that had placed the phone inches from her sleeping head. The horrid thing rang again. She answered the ringing to in return receive a perky lady yelling in her ear.

"Hmm…" Was all that Angie allowed herself to dignify the call with.

"Hey! Angie want to go shopping with me today?" Cameron exclaimed excitedly; Angie could just picture the woman's huge smile.

"Not particularly, no…when do you want to go?"

"I'm going to the clinic now to finish some paperwork, could you just meet me in the lobby in about an hour?" Cameron was glad she had someone to come with her, Diane had to work and her parents were still in New York. She knew it was still a bit early, but she really wanted to look at things for the wedding.

"Sure thing, deary." Angela said, the girls exchanged pleasantries and goodbyes, and then hung up. Angela managed, with much will power, to tear herself from her bed and to get dressed. She wore a black sweater and faded jeans; she brought a purse and tucked her mp3 player inside. Angela started the not too far walk to the hospital.

Dr. Gregory House was seated at his desk, feet planted flat on the ground and head in his hands. Typically he'd play gameboy, watch TV, listen to music, or at the very least play with a tennis ball, but he had a lot on his mind at the moment. And then she came, Stacey walked into his office with an anxious look. She sat down and got straight to the point of their little meeting.

"I heard that you and Cameron were engaged."

"Yes, we're engaged. Is _that_ it? Is _that_ what you wanted to talk about?" He was almost annoyed with her; she was clearly upset when he nosed into her relationship, now she conveniently set up a meeting to discuss his engagement.

"Well, sort of…I wanted to tell you that this doesn't change how I feel about you."

"What? You're married, I'm engaged and you're sitting her telling me you still have feelings for me?"

"Yes, I'm happily married and your happy with Cameron, but I thought you deserved to know how I felt and you know how I feel about you."

"And you know how I feel about you." He hoped to god at least she did because he wasn't so sure himself right now.

"So…what does this mean?" For the first time in that conversation, Stacey hesitated.

Allison Cameron approached Angela after making sure every last bit of paperwork was good and done. Angie was sitting in the clinic waiting room apparently trying to see how many pencils she could stuff up her nostril, all of which she pulled out upon seeing Cameron.

"So where's the first stop in our super-fun-shopping-spree-tastic day?"

"Super-fun-shopping-spree-tastic day?" She said questioning Angie's invented words with a raised eyebrow.

"Yeah, beats the heck out of 'Saturday'… 'Saturday', what a boring name for a day. I like mine much better!" Angie grabbed her purse and got to her feet.

"Yes it's very…creative. I think we'll go to the dress shops first, than the florists." Cameron nodded to Angie and both girls walked towards Cameron's car.

**A/N: **Yaa! That was weird, ok keep in mind this was written at 2am and my mind is in some other realm at those late hours. Please review! Luv, Lola


	10. Visiting

**Chapter:** 10. Visiting

_What could be more beautiful_  
_Than you and I falling from grace_  
_All the things we'll never know _  
_So beautiful they're slipping away_  
-Beautiful, Thornley

"I'm not all that sure that you've noticed, but these dresses are rather expensive. You get one of these and you'll be lucky to afford bread." Angela had her headphones in and was walking about the dress shop critiquing every dress and especially every dress' price tag.

"I know." Cameron sighed. With a baby on the way every dress they saw was just outside of their price range. The way things were looking she and her bridesmaids would be wearing jeans and tank tops to the ceremony. Right now Vegas wasn't sounding so bad.

"Dr. Cameron?" Allison Cameron heard behind her, from an all too familiar voice.

"You know the caveperson?" Angie whispered in Cameron's general direction.

"Vogler. Hello." Cameron stammered in utter shock of the man's presence.

"Hello Dr. Cameron…and who is this?" Edward Vogler turned on Angela.

"Angela McGrath. I'm her fiancé's niece. We're looking for a pretty dress that you wouldn't have to sell a lung and a kidney to afford."

"Yeah, I like my kidney's." Cameron laughed.

"You have some nice lungs too."

"I see. So, Dr. Cameron you're getting married." Vogler frowned.

"Yeah, you catch on quick big guy." Angie just smiled. She'd heard a lot about Vogler and decided since no one's job or life was on the line that talking with the guy could be a lot of fun. "Hey Vogler, What are you doing in a wedding shop?"

"I own this business." Vogler stated proudly.

"So you own a pharmaceuticals company and…a weddings shop?"

"Yes, businesses such as this one can turn a great profit." Vogler smiled wickedly and Cameron swore she could see dollar signs in his eyes.

"So we've seen, if Al here wants a nice dress for her wedding day she'd have to sell her first born on the black-market." Cameron elbowed Angie.

"Well we ought to get going, nice seeing you Edward!" Cameron shouted nervously, scooting Angie towards the exit. The two were out of the shop and quickly walking off to the florists. She may not have a gorgeous designer dress, but she'd at least have a great bouquet.

"Huh. So that was Ed Vogler. Thought he'd be taller."

Dr. Gregory House was seated at his desk, feet planted flat on the ground and head in his hands. Typically he'd play gameboy, watch TV, listen to music, or at the very least play with a tennis ball, but he had a lot on his mind at the moment, again. He had agreed to go to lunch with Stacey to discuss their discussion. He couldn't believe this was happening. Stacey professes her 'feelings' for him just when he's engaged and after he's been informed that his fiancée is pregnant; great timing Stacey. He didn't quite understand her motives either, she said she was happily married and yet she wants to talk with him about what to do regarding their 'feelings'. At this point he had no idea how he felt, but one thing was clear to him, he loved Allison Cameron. He also cared a great deal about Stacey or at least he had.

"I think roses are kind of cliché, you should try something a bit less overdone…get lilies!" Cameron turned her attention to the vase Angela was pointing at. An arrangement of flowers labeled 'pink stargazer lilies'.

"Oh…yeah, they're beautiful…and half off!" The easily affordable price of the flowers made Cameron admire them that much more.

"Your bouquet, bridesmaids, decorations, whatever these will be great." Angie wasn't the type of person to get excited over flowers, but at the moment that was the only thing that was giving hope the little wedding that could. Allison Cameron and Gregory House are getting married and it will be fabulous! So far they were getting married outside somewhere at sunset, in cheap dress clothes, with pink lilies and close family and friends.

House met Stacey in a little restaurant close by and sat down in a booth. If he didn't know any better, based on the look on her face, he'd say she didn't want to be there just as much as he didn't. He eased himself down onto the seat, his back facing the door. Stacey sat across from him and folded her hands before her on the table. House slammed his cane down on the table, satisfied to see her jump slightly and lay her hands flat.

"I'm starving." Cameron whined rubbing her stomach.

"Yeah you're bound to whither away to nothing any day now. If your hungry lets go eat, there's this really unhealthy little restaurant next door. C'mon your pregnant that's the ultimate excuse to load up on fat and carbs." Cameron smiled excitedly and followed Angie out of the flower shop and into the restaurant; they seated themselves and waited for a server to notice them and bring menus.

"What was the point of even telling me? You're not divorcing Mark and I'm not leaving Allison." House huffed.

"I know and if you recall I said that I told you because I thought you deserved to know. I would never leave Mark I love him, but I…I don't know…" Stacey sighed and looked like she could cry, she loved her husband, but the idea of having doubts about how she felt just killed her inside.

House sighed, reached out and held her hand for support, "I know, it's ok."

"Oh god." Cameron muttered. She didn't look again, she didn't care to ask questions, she just got up and rushed out of the restaurant. She saw her fiancé holding hands and gazing into the eyes of his ex-girlfriend.

Seeing Allison leave, Angie tried to see what Cameron had seen before she'd run off. Angela turned her head and saw her uncle. She rolled her eyes, stalked over to the man and smacked him up the side of the head. "You stupid knob!" She yelled and hit him again.

"What the hell was that for? I thought you were going to anger management to curb this type of bad behavior." House was lucky he had enough time to grab his cane, before his niece ripped him from the booth and was pulling him out the door by his hand.

**A/N: **Sorry it took so long; this is what happens when you have writer's block. I'm leaving for vacation in about a day, so if time and reviews permit I may be able to get a chapter up tomorrow. Then School starts on the sixth, so chapters will be more spaced out, but they will come! Thank you so much for reading and thank you so much to those of you who continue to review. Luv, Lola


	11. Roadside Fun

"You're an idiot, you know that, right?" Angie dragged him as gently as an angry teenager could drag anyone. The only reason she was 'gently dragging' him was because it wouldn't exactly help her reputation if she ran an oblivious cripple into a ditch.

"What is it that you believe I did this time? Will you let go of me…and where are we going?"

Angela dropped his hand, but was glad that he was still walking by her side. "For someone who doesn't know what he's done your being sort of defensive. And we're going to your car, you get to drive me home now, since you provoked my ride home to run away."

"Huh? I thought Alison said she shopping with you today…but I didn't see her in there." Probably the only perk about being crippled was the spectacular parking, he had reached the car and was now leaning on his cane.

"Did you just take an incredible amount of stupid pills this morning? It doesn't matter that you didn't see her; she saw you and your company. She got a scared look on her face and dashed off. I'd claim she overreacted due to PMS, but since she's pregnant I think it might probably perhaps possibly be something else." Angie rolled her eyes, sure he was a genius when it came to medicine, but when it comes to people and relationships he was about as keen as a duck with a guitar. Her lame uncle was the last person she was worried about; just then Allison Cameron was breaking down in the middle of a busy road.

Her hands were sore and stiff from the grip she had on her steering wheel; her eyes full of watery tears just begging to drop. She shook her head and attempted to blink away the tears in disbelief. The same thought fogged her head and was repeated over and over: she should have known. _She should have known, she should have known, she should have known. _Everything was perfect, just perfect; great job, great fiancé, great family, home, friends, everything was great and then suddenly nothing was. She should have known that it couldn't be like this forever. Greg and Stacey, the way he looked at her, held her, the history they had, it all came rushing back to her like a tidal wave and broke her heart. She knew he loved her and would never want to hurt her like this, but she couldn't help remembering the image of seeing them together or thoughts of them seeing each other. She eased her grip on the wheel and sighed.

"Where is she?" House mumbled, pointing his often one-track mind in the direction of his fiancée.

"Yeah we were gone shopping for about two hours, not enough time to get an actual wedding dress, but conveniently enough time to install a GPS system…just drive me home, then go soul-mate searching. Why don't you recruit Jimmy and dumb and Foreman to help." Angie offered, anxious to just get home as fast as she could.

"No."

Angela opened her mouth to speak, but no words made it out, instead out came a horrid hacking cough. It stopped about as soon as it came, but it was still big. Angie was hunched over with her hands on her knees catching her breath. House took a few small weak steps over to her and hesitantly reached over and rested a hand on her back.

"You haven't been taking your medication." House said flatly, more so telling himself than Angela.

"Yes…I have."

"Ok my dear, there's good news and bad news; you get to go to the hospital. Now. Get in." He opened the car door and got in himself. Angela instead leaned on the opposite door and sighed.

"What's the good news?"

House began to serve up some sarcastic comment when he began to ring. He leaned over and grabbed a cell phone out of his front pocket. He anxiously asked, "Hello?" House shook his head and reluctantly passed the phone over to his niece. "He wants to talk to you."

"Uh…right." Angie took the phone from him slowly; she was shocked, that first of all her uncle even owned a cell phone and that whoever would be calling him would rather speak to her. "Hello?"

"Hey, Angie, It's me. Allison's over at my place and she really didn't want to talk to Greg." Apparently Wilson thought the mention of his name would give him up, although he knew Angela would know his voice. "She wanted to talk to you."

"Right…can't they just talk to each other? This isn't middle school, and I would know, we shouldn't be passing messages along for them."

"Yeah, hopefully you do a better job convincing them than me, here." Wilson said and handed the phone off to Cameron.

"Angela?"

"Uh huh, hey man, how about you just talk to Greg, make up, I'll go home and we call it a day?" Angie turned her back to her uncle and leaned her back against the car.

"I don't want to talk to him." What upset Angela the most was the Cameron didn't sound angry, she sounded hurt.

"Look…you may not want to talk to him but you need to, at least hear him out. You love him, he loves you, blah, blah, blah, do you really want a little incident like this to screw everything up?" Angela persisted; she knew if they didn't at least talk they would both regret it.

"…Fine." Cameron sighed.

"Oh hurray, praise Otis!" mumbled Angie, tossing the phone onto House's lap and than finally getting into the car herself. Angela offered to drive while House talked with Cameron on the phone, but his horror-stricken look was enough to answer for him.

"Allison…I'm not completely sure what you saw or _thought_ you saw, but the only thing happening between us was lunch." House rubbed his eyes and forehead, anxious to hear her reply.

"That's it? You have no feelings for her what so ever?" Cameron thought she knew the answer, but she had to be absolutely sure.

"No, I don't."

"And she doesn't have feelings for you…at all?"

"No…she doesn't."

"Well…alright then."

He despised the thought of there being desperation in his voice, and the thought of him needing another person. So he didn't think that; he just thought about how he wanted her with him. "Allison, come home."

**A/N: ** Yay for happy endings. Hope you liked the chapter, please review!


	12. The Check Up

"Ok…any ideas? Oh come on, don't tell me you went through all those years of medical school and all you can come up with is that pitiful shrug." House said eyeing Chase.

Foreman rolled his eyes and replied, "We could easily think of something to explain the symptoms, but you claim to have ruled those things out already."

"Yeah and if those thing are ruled out than it must be something else…hard concept, huh?"

"How have you ruled them out? We haven't tested the patient yet and we don't have a history…even you aren't that good." Foreman sputtered.

"Says you…I actually have a history, I've also seen the patient." House waited a few seconds to let the shock fade away.

"Uh…what room is the patient in, I could-" Cameron started, shaking off the surprise of House actually voluntarily visiting a patient.

"Nope, you couldn't actually. The patient isn't in the hospital."

"Well, then technically she isn't a patient." Said Wilson butting in.

"…Yet" House muttered.

"I highly doubt she'd just let you admit her, if you haven't cared to notice she doesn't exactly like hospitals." Wilson explained, slightly lowering his head.

"Well then if the patient won't go to the hospital, the hospital will have to go to the patient." House waggled his eyebrows and limped from the room. The rest of the team exchanged glances, sighed and followed after him, clueless as to where they were going.

_Believe, believe in me, believe_  
_That life can change, that you're not stuck in vain_  
_We're not the same, we're different tonight_

Angela sat on her floor and hummed along, she never sang, but if the mood struck her she hummed. The reason she didn't sing wasn't because she was embarrassed, she was completely alone after all, but she strongly felt that the artists should be the ones to sing their songs. It disturbed her in a way to hear people singing out of tune, too loudly to a classic song, imitation isn't always a form of flattery. At the moment she was against the wall propped up with a few pillows copying and answering math equations from her textbook. Distractions helped her focus, so therefore along with integers came music. And then somehow the doorbell was thrown in the mix.

_Believe, believe in me, believe_   
_Believe in the resolute urgency of now_   
_And if you believe there's not a chance tonight_

"Oh hi, are you trying to stalk me? 'Cause if you are you're really bad at it, a good stalker doesn't ring the bell." Angie was surprised at just how many doctors it took to stalk a kid.

"I'll be sure to remember that for next time, now let me in." House demanded.

"Let yourself in." Angie said, stepping aside from the door and sitting on the couch positioned on the far side of the room. House took a seat on the couch across from Angie and Cameron sat next to him. The three other doctors were left to stand. "I'm gonna go out on a limb here and say, you're all not here for a satisfying game of yatzee."

"No, somehow I think the fact that you'd cheat would leave me unsatisfied." Chase muttered, from his spot against the wall.

"Ok, well, fist of all, I never cheated, I still maintain that it was purely strategy and secondly you're just pissed because you lost. Finally, if you're not here to play amusing board games with me, than why are you here?"

_We'll crucify the insincere tonight_   
_We'll make things right, we'll feel it all tonight_   
_We'll find a way to offer up the night tonight_   
_The indescribable moments of your life tonight_   
_The impossible is possible tonight_  
_Believe in me as I believe in you, tonight_

"We're here to whisk you off to the luxurious Princeton Plainsboro Teaching Hospital for a check up." House said wistfully, attempting to make a hospital stay sound appealing to a teenage girl. Apparently he failed.

"No. No, you're not, I'm fine, I'm not sick."

"Oh not this again." House groaned impatiently, "You're sick. Healthy people don't cough themselves unconscious."

"Then obviously I must be healthy because neither do I. I took my medicine and I'm fine, I haven't coughed in days and I feel just…normal" Angie almost sounded disappointed at the realization.

"We're getting married." Cameron spoke up, out of the blue.

"The cough medicine didn't erase my memory dear." Angie raised her brows and spoke slowly.

"No, I mean we're getting married, we've chosen the date. The ceremony will be on Friday." She explained with a bright smile. House sat quietly seeming disinterested.

"That seems a little early, you guys anxious to tie the knot?" Wilson remarked, sort of frowning.

"No! Somebody's just eager to get it over with before somebody's born." House blurted, looking accusingly at Cameron.

"Oh Gregory how are we ever to know what you're talking about when you speak in code like that? And actions have consequences, you proposed, now you're getting married, that's usually the way these things go."

"Yeah, I know, I just wanted to put it off a little longer, maybe flee the country, now the first time that I meet my in-laws I'll be marrying their pregnant daughter." House sighed.

"That'll make for a memorable first impression." Wilson said.

Angela began inexplicably laughing and when she saw the weird looks she was getting she explained her outburst, "I just got this mental image of you two getting married and an angry man holding a shotgun to your back."

"That is _not_ funny." Cameron stated, although she looked fairly amused herself.

"You got to admit it's at least a little funny." Angie smiled back wickedly. "You guys have a busy day ahead of yourselves, you need to get tuxedos and…stuff. So get out of my house and be on your way." Angie got up to get everyone out.

"Alright, bye, I'll see you later…and if I hear one ill peep out of you you're headed straight to the hospital and believe me young lady you're gonna get it." House pointed his finger at his niece and did his best to sound intimidating.

Just before shutting the door on him Angie said, "Hey, would I lie to you?"

**A/N: **The song in italics was Tonight, Tonight by The Smashing Pumpkins. Thanks for reading and please review!


	13. Pep Talks and Pardons

**Chapter: **13. Pep Talks and Pardons

"My dress doesn't fit!"

"What-why wouldn't your dress fit?" Diane questioned, tossing another chocolate into her mouth, getting up off her bed and coming over to assess the situation. "Look it's just snug around the waist, wear a different one."

"I've only been pregnant a few weeks and now I can't even wear a dress to my wedding…how is that fair?" Cameron retreated from the closet holding a flowing, pale pink dress; she held the replacement dress out in irritation.

He had his face scrunched up and was twisting his tie wildly. She idly swayed back and forth behind him.

"So…are you nervous?"

"About what?" He undid his tie to start over.

"Don't do that, don't dodge the question, it's simple, yes or no."

"…Yes"

"Hmm…you're not going to pull a 'runaway groom' on us are you?"

"I think we both know the flaw in that clichéd idea…what the hell is wrong with me, why can't I tie a tie?"

"Well, I think that would be the nerves, besides aren't you supposed to wear a bow tie." She asked taking the opposing tie from her uncle's hands.

"Nobody tells me what I'm supposed to wear these days, I do it all by my self, I'm a big boy now."

"Why don't you just forget about the tie then, go tie-less, Allison isn't wearing a wedding dress, you two will just be slightly untraditional, it suites you."

"So…are you nervous?" Diane adjusted the straps of her white dress and looked expectantly at her friend.

"I'm…not sure. I'm getting married in a few hours and I'm expecting my first child, I'm not sure what to be more nervous about. I never just stood back and thought about it all, but everything's moving really fast." Cameron sighed to herself and fidgeted with her hair, placing it on top of her head in a sort of gracefully messy way.

"Is that a bad thing? Things moving quickly in your relationship, I thought at first you were complaining because it was moving too slow."

"Yeah at first, it takes him a while to warm up to people." She let a grin creep onto her face.

"The doorbell rang."

"My goodness, thank you, I hadn't noticed. This is your house so you should probably do something about it." Angie kicked at her shoes in resentment, she felt high heels were for the insecure and pretty, but she had to look the part so the shoes were necessary.

"But its my wedding day, it's my day, I get to be lazy today. Now go forth minion, answer the door."

Angela rolled her earthy green eyes; there were far too many ways to sarcastically correct his comments. She abandoned the shoes and her uncle's room to answer the door. Upon being let in, Dr. James Wilson shrugged off his coat and turned to her.

"Hey, don't give me that look, I know that look, everything is fine."

"It is, I'm just not sure that your decision not to tell him was the best one." The doctor hung his coat and placed his hands on his hips.

"Spectacular timing Jimmy, don't you think today is kind of an inappropriate day to be discussing this? You look nice by the way." Wilson managed to tie his tie without trouble.

"Uh, thank you. You can't just avoid the situation by changing the subject, you know. And you look…you're not wearing any pants."

"Ok hair, makeup, dress, flowers, bridesmaid. My parents, sister and coworkers will be meeting me there…what am I forgetting?"

"Your groom, perhaps?" Diane offered with a shrug.

"No, his best man and niece are responsible for him. At least I don't have to worry about that for a while yet." Allison Cameron picked up a bag and left her friend's apartment to head off to her wedding. She'd come early that morning to get ready and talk, she didn't believe in bad luck at seeing the bride before the wedding, she did believe that before then they would both need their space.

"Ah, yes, and if you speak of the 'situation' to anyone I'll have to sue your pants off." Wilson opened his mouth, but was interrupted before any sound could come out.

"Hey, you're here, let's go before I change my mind." House started for the door, but paused in front of Angela. "You look tired, and pale."

"Yeah, love you too. Are Grandma and Grandpa going to be there?" Angie stated, walking out the door in front of him.

"I'd assume so, today is a very special day for them, their baby boy is finally getting married, very sentimental."

"Right…oh my shoes!" Angela ran back into the house in her bare feet to retrieve her dress shoes.

House shook his head, "Did they perform some kind of lobotomy on the kid when she was in the hospital?"

"You've never forgotten your keys?" Wilson asked pointedly.

"Not in the lock, she was barefoot, I swear she'd forget her name if it wasn't for everyone yelling it at her."

"Its nice to see you have such confidence in her."

"I don't have complete confidence in anyone. I respect her, trust her and have confidence in her, she knows that."

"Ok you two shut up about me and get in the car. Go before I bring out the whip." Angie hopped on her foot while slipping her last shoe on the other, rushing toward the car. She made it into the car safely only tripping on the skirt of her dress once, but never falling.

**A/N: **I'm sure you all can guess what's coming next. Hopefully you still like the story and will review for me.


	14. The Wonder

**Chapter:** 14. The Wonder

_They will see us waving from such great heights _  
_'Come down now,' they'll say_  
_But everything looks perfect from far away,_  
_'Come down now,' but we'll stay..._  
-Such Great Heights, The Postal Service

Cameron fidgeted and paced to such an extent that the blind could likely tell she was nervous. She stood in front of the tiny crowd of people awaiting her groom and the remaining members of the wedding. Her parents and sister had just arrived from New York and were seated before her like an anxious audience.

"He's late."

"And you're uptight…just breathe, remember to breathe, breathing is good…remember that, it's important. He's in the car arguing about something, or changing something or having a panic attack, you know, something like that. Don't worry he'll probably be out in a few minutes." Angie shrugged and took her seat, next to her grandmother and an empty chair, leaving Cameron to stand at the front, facing everyone, alone, again.

What Angela said had no effect in calming Alison down. She wanted everything to be the way she wanted, to run smoothly, why was that so much to ask? She regrettably let her nerves and fears get the best of her and she imagined how her happy day would slowly decline. Minute upon minute would fall by, each agonizingly slow. Her guests all sitting, staring expectantly, expecting of her something, or someone, that she was expecting herself. Bad would turn to worse; the situation was obviously the unfortunate thing in between the rock and the hard place. She was startled from her startling thoughts by a hand on her shoulder and was disappointed to see Wilson.

"Oh…James. Hello. It's been half an hour"

"You worried?" He grinned inappropriately.

"That my groom would rather hide in the car than come out here and marry me, yeah kind of." Anger edged into her timid voice.

"Well don't be, he'll be out in a few minutes, he couldn't find his pills and then he had an over exaggerated debate about whether or not to bring his cane." He offered a sympathetic shrug and took a seat next to Angela and the aisle parting the two groups of guests.

A couple short minutes later the man in question came walking up from the parking lot with cane in tow. He walked to his bride looking to his far left avoiding the gazes of his guests. House reached his destination, looking Cameron in the eyes and a last minute priest at his side. He dropped his cane at once and clasped her hands, never looking away from her eyes. Alison was calm, the priest began to speak and the wedding began. It seemed a few people were entranced by the event taking place, as if they were witnessing a miracle, the odd person even dabbed tears from the corners of their eyes.

An hour later about half of the wedding guests migrated to the newlywed's house for lunch and to visit.

"Woo, great uncle Marty's looking hot today, his sideburns are really on fire!" Angie mockingly waved at the sides of her face with her hands and winked at House, and she then heard a screeching call from behind her.

"Who is on fire?"

"Seriously, who brought Patty? That kid scares me." Angie stepped closer to her uncle and instinctively farther from Patty.

"Probably her mother and she's two years old of course she's going to think people are running around the house on fire, kids are so naïve aren't they?" He patted her on the head like a toddler and pinched her cheek like great grandma McGrath always did.

"Ew. Get away. Now. Boy, do I feel sorry for your kid, you're positively terrifying." She cocked an annoyed eyebrow and slapped his hand away, involuntarily grinning at him. Cameron spotted her husband from across the room and walked over donning a bright smile.

"That's good, that means the kid will have no problem listening to me, he can be my right hand man, he'll inevitably replace you. I'll no longer have any use for you." House grinned wickedly and Angela's mouth hung open in shock and offence.

"He? You know something I don't House" Cameron raised her eyebrows now and gestured to him with a full glass of water.

"No." He admitted sheepishly, "…or do I?" He added in a mock maniacal voice.

"Um…no, no one knows yet, you know that. Let's go…I have some people I'd like you to meet."

"I do _not_ like the sound of that, I can't, and actually, Angie and I were about to…uh…" House gestured emphatically for Angela to help him out; she just stared on with a very amused look.

Cameron shook her head, "Get over here."

"Oooh, married for an hour and twenty minutes and already whipped!" Angie's eyes gleamed with glee.

"Please don't." House begged pitifully.

She didn't listen; she did it. She flung her arm out in front of her and yelled, "wha-chh! Whipped!"

House simply groaned and followed his wife through the thin crowd of his guests. Angela walked on with a low chuckle. She walked by Chase and Foreman who were gathered by the chip and dip talking about today's newlywed couple.

"You know, I think one of the most surprising things about today was the fact that House actually shaved, when he walked up I hardly recognized him." Foreman remarked with a laugh.

"I know it's bizarre, pretty soon pigs will be flying backwards, clean shaven nonetheless." Chase answered back sarcastically, "hey, you see Angela around here?"

"Yeah, just now, why?" Foreman was now frowning curiously.

"Just wondering." Chase shrugged, ate a chip and walked away.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"What do you want?" Angie questioned out of frustration, ripping her elbow out of Wilson's grasp as he led her to the sidewalk in front of House's house.

"Uh, nothing, I just wanted to know if you were ok." He shifted his weight and briefly looked away.

"Honestly? You could've asked me inside. I'm fine, I feel fine. Are you ok?"

"Yes." Wilson sighed, she was a horrible liar, but she'd never listen to him, she wouldn't listen to anyone, she was incredibly stubborn. He never wondered where she got her stubbornness from.

"Ok, great, now I think we should head back inside I think uncle Greg is about to be introduced to his in laws and I want a front row seat to that." She grinned like she always did and entered the house again followed by Wilson.

**A/N**: It's been a while since I last updated, hope this was worth the wait. Thanks to everyone that have read and reviewed.


	15. Death Scenes

Warning: Vague spoilers for various Stephen Dorff movies.

**Chapter 15:** Death Scenes

"I can't wait until Christmas. Seriously, I know it isn't for a few more months, but I really want to be able to eat gingerbread houses, wrap gifts and don my gay apparel again!"

"Yeah, sure, just promise me you'll watch out for those gingerbread houses, you remember what happened to Gretel, don't you?" James Wilson stated matter-of-factly.

"Yeah, she got free food and became famous, woe is her." She said sarcastically, standing alongside the wall watching her aunt and uncle talk to an older couple across the room.

XXXXX

Alison Cameron's parents stood stiff as statues directly in front of her and her husband.

"And why haven't we met your fiancé before, Alison?" Cameron's mother spoke in a stern, yet warm voice.

"Well…I-it…it just never seemed like the right time…"

"Well, now seems like as good a time as any, Alison"

House looked up and straightened his back, "I'm here now, what do you want to know? How about my intentions with your daughter? I intended to marry and impregnate her the first chance I got, so far I'm two for two." A few minutes of silence followed.

Alison's father's look sharpened and eyes widened, only slightly, "Your pregnant? How? Why? How!" He stammered slowly, still very stunned from the revelation.

"Well, I'm no expert, only a doctor, but I think at some point in time there was sex. I don't know for sure, it's not like there's a record I can check, but I think maybe a condom broke, maybe a pill was forgotten or maybe, just maybe, a stork did it."

XXXXX

"You'd think since he was meeting his in-laws for the first time he'd at least try to be nice. Look, you see there, that's that little childish gleam in his eye he gets when he's excessively sarcastic." Angela shook her head lightly in disappointment; this was her role model. How could people expect her to be nice and civil when this was the example set for her?

"Maybe our expectations were just too high, we shouldn't have even hoped he'd be nice, it was a fools hope really." Wilson spoke wistfully and sighed.

"No, he's just pathetic is all. He can't manage fake sincerity for an hour, that's pitiful. I'm so pro, I've done it for days."

"When have you ever had to fake being sincere for days on end?" He raised an eyebrow signaling his disbelief.

"Girl scouts camp, everyone was so…perky."

XXXXX

Alison's mother shifted uncomfortably and then her father spoke, "Well, this has been nice, getting to know you, Gregory. The wedding was lovely, really, but I think we ought to be headed home soon."

"Yes dear, we'll call and we can talk, ok. See you soon sweetheart." Her mother gently squeezed Alison into a quick hug and followed after her husband quickly.

As soon as the in laws were out of sight, and presumably earshot, House turned to his new wife, "So?"

"So? _SO_? The first time you talk to my parents you drive them away, you humiliate me and yourself, you blurt out the news of my pregnancy like it's no big deal, you really just disappointed me…" Her voice trailed off, glumly.

"I _disappointed_ you? Why? What did you want from me, _perfection_? You wanted the wedding to be perfect and you wanted my meeting your parents to go perfectly, why can't you ever just understand that there's no such thing as perfection?"

"Unlike you I'm capable of optimism, I know hoping for something to be perfect can't hurt." Alison Cameron's voice rose to just under a yell. "I actually try to be happy, I want things to be perfect and happy."

"No wonder you're ever so disappointed, you don't just want things to be perfect, you plan on them being perfect, you're expectations are too high and you get disappointed."

"If I had high expectations, why would I have married _you_?" She yelled at him, her eyes contradicted her and showed her sadness as well as anger. His eyes quickly lost their smugness. She stood still for what seemed like minutes and then left her home.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Where is she?" Angie was sitting on the floor of her uncle's house resting her back on his couch, where he sat frowning.

"Who?" He mumbled.

"Waldo's girlfriend, she's pretty tricky. No, I'm kidding you, I was being sarcastic you see. I'm talking about you're wife, walked out of here about five hours ago, never to be seen since, I was kinda wondering if you knew where she was. By the way the little creases in your forehead will deepen like the Grand Canyon in you don't cut that out." She quickly averted her attention back to the screen if front of her and whispered to herself. "…Aww, crap"

"I don't know where she is, she'll call." He spoke slowly, almost as if he didn't completely believe himself.

"Why does this always have to happen? Move…Move…why are you standing there! …"

"What are you watching?" He asked his niece and finally unclenched his frown.

"Stephen Dorff movie, he dies, just wait…"

"I thought you hated when people talked during movies, or does it not count when you talk to yourself?"

"Ok, for one thing I am the only one watching the movie and I've already seen this one about seven times, never gets old… run, Stephen Dorff, run! …Oh…he got shot."

"I see that, did he not get shot the last seven times too?"

"Yeah…it's still sad, although not half as sad as your sad little situation, pouty. You oughta just stop pouting and call her, admit your pathetic defeat, and run off into the sunset somewhere for your honeymoon."

"I'm not calling her and I'm not pouting, I'm brooding."

"There is a very fine line between pouting and brooding, my dear. You know you need to call her, no one cares that you don't want to, we all know it's just because you hate to apologize."

House huffed out a loud sigh and reached over for the remote, but stopped when the phone rang abruptly.

Angie looked him in the eyes and frowned, "How much you wanna bet it's Grandma?" House's eyes were still and his hand retreated to his side.


End file.
